Google wants you to test its apps

Users will get the chance to play with abstract email toys

Haven’t you always wanted to play a bit of the “Snake” game that we used to find on Nokia phones in the middle of checking your email?

Well, the bods at Google’s application making unit (which seems like a place filled with magic) have unleashed a wave of new programmes to make Googlemail a more fun place to be.

And the best thing is, you get to choose which of them you play with.

Snakes on a screen

As well as the aforementioned 'Old Snakey', other features include pictures in the chat facility and Email Addict, which locks you out of your Gmail account for 15 minutes if you’re in it for too long.

Having had a little play around with the features, one of the best was the chance to just wave the mouse to the left or right while holding the right key, allowing for motion-based navigation.

The new features are “really rough and have gone through no filtering in terms of product analysis or design analysis," says Kevin Coleman, Gmail product manager.

"They have just gone through a general code review process to make sure they are safe to run.

"They have also gone through less testing than a typical feature would. But this is a way to take our ideas and get them out to the public."